Want to get rich quick selling Florida real estate? Think again.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, droves of wannabe real estate investors have flocked to Florida chasing the promise of streets paved with gold. But rising interest rates, home prices and insurance costs have created hurdles for newcomers looking to get rich quick. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

Business Beat - Week of March 1st

Get top news-to-know with Florida Trend's headline-focused video newsbrief, hosted by digital content specialist Aimée Alexander.

Florida ranks as the state with the most women-owned businesses

In case you don't know, March is Women's History Month. And International Women's Day is Friday, March 8. Women make up more than two-thirds of America’s minimum-wage workforce and about 51% of the population, but political representation, workplace and healthcare equality for women are a different story in most U.S. states. [Source: Florida Today]

Parts of Florida to crack down on spring break ‘troublemakers’

Spring breakers visiting parts of Florida can expect some serious changes this year. The City of Miami Beach is warning “troublemakers” they are, “breaking up with spring break.” The city plans to raise parking garage rates to $100 per day, deploy DUI checkpoints, and impose a curfew at midnight. More from WFTV and ABC News.

Florida bill would raise interest rates for borrowers from payday lenders

Interest rates could be going up across the board for consumer finance loans in Florida. A pair of bills, HB 1347 and SB 1436, would modify the scale of interest rates that payday lenders are allowed to charge borrowers, according to the bill text. The legislation would raise the maximum interest rates, based on the principal amount borrowed. [Source: WUSF]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› State lawmakers move to block proposed growth limits in Orange County [Orlando Sentinel]
Florida legislators are on the verge of upending a proposal from a citizens’ committee to ask Orange County voters in November to restrict development on rural lands east and west of Orlando. The Orange County Charter Review Commission has not yet approved the proposed “Rural Boundary Amendment” suggested by a subcommittee after six months of study, but the possible impacts on future development caught lawmakers’ attention. The legislative efforts, which have gained public notice only in the last few days, would thwart a major effort to control the area’s growth without letting residents weigh in.

› Pensacola approves up to 17% raises for city firefighters [Pensacola News Journal]
Pensacola firefighters are getting pay increases of as much as 17% under a new bargaining agreement with the city. The Pensacola City Council unanimously approved the new agreement last week, which raises new firefighters by 17%. Across the entire fire union the increases come out a 12% raise for all firefighters, with other individualized pay adjustments salaries could be as much as $43,000.

› Tampa biotech firm's shares slide 42% after $2.1M capital raise announcement [Business Observer]
Oragenics, a publicly traded Tampa-based pharmaceutical company, says it will offer 1.4 million shares for $1.50 per share, seeking proceeds of $2.1 million to fund a promising brain-injury treatment. The announcement is notable since Oragenics' lead product is a COVID-19 vaccine candidate. But the pharmaceutical company seems to be aiming to maintain a diverse menu.

› 3 companies, 1 Midtown Miami apartment, 0 employees: The setup for a $735,000 fraud [Miami Herald]
Using lies and three companies that existed only on paper, a 26-year old began running a $735,000 investor fraud out of his rented two-bedroom, two-bathroom, 1,262-square-foot Midtown Miami apartment. That was just over three years ago. Now 29, Jack Ridall has been ordered to live in a smaller space than even a Midtown one-bedroom: a federal prison cell.

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› Philanthropist Wendy H. Steele is Florida’s honoree for USA TODAY’s Women of the Year [Naples Daily News]
Bags of the essentials — dried fruits, socks, toothbrushes and other supplies — are always stocked in the back of Wendy H. Steele’s car. Steele, 61, keeps the kits in constant supply in case she sees someone in need while driving. It’s a simple gesture, Steele said, but one that helps ease the sting of sadness she feels when she sees injustice or inequity around her.

› SeaWorld's new roller coaster rises from ashes of long-time shuttered ride [Orlando Business Journal]
Ever since SeaWorld Orlando closed its Empire of the Penguin ride in March 2020, the themed entertainment company has been deliberating internally about what to do with the space left behind, said Clint Brinker, vice president of design and engineering for SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment.

› Senate votes for state control over food delivery apps [Florida Politics]
Tallahassee legislators may have a place at your dinner table soon, as the Senate unanimously approved a preemption bill giving the state control over food delivery apps. SB 676, sponsored by Sen. Jennifer Bradley of Clay County, would preempt the regulation of “food delivery platforms” that corral orders from multiple restaurants to the government in Tallahassee.

› Riverside, Brooklyn businesses hopeful a JSO move to Florida Blue building will give them a boost [News 4 Jax]
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is looking to move hundreds of employees from their downtown offices at the Police Memorial Building to the Florida Blue building in Riverside. JSO has started to negotiate a lease for the office space. JSO said about 750 employees work at its current downtown headquarters daily, and once a new location has been solidified, all of those employees would be expected to make the move to the new building.